


The Huntsman, or Fairy Tales Interrupted

by CaptainLeBubbles



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Big Bad Wolf - Freeform, Fairy Tale Retellings, Families of Choice, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent-Child Relationship, Red Riding Hood Elements, Snow White Elements, The Frog Prince Elements, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26142676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: In which Bryory, a simple huntsman, is tasked by his queen to murder her stepdaughter, and runs off with her into the Enchanted Wood instead, where the pair promptly disrupt and rewrite every fairy tale they stumble across along the way.
Relationships: Bryory & Snow, Julian/Quin & Red (Fairy Tales Interrupted), Julian/Quin (Fairy Tales Interrupted)
Kudos: 4





	1. Snow White, or The Beginning of Many Adventures

**Author's Note:**

> What the what? An original work? Theo what is happening whoah!
> 
> Yeah I've been working on some original stuff lately. Will probably build some buffer before I post the next story since that seems to work really well as a way to motivate me to write but I wanted to see if I could generate any interest in this story in the meantime. Please bear in mind that this is the first draft, and is only being posted as a way to gauge interest and bounce off a test audience as I write.
> 
> [Here](https://grifalinas.tumblr.com/post/626113281510227968/hey-guys-i-made-a-new-man) is Bryory, our kindly huntsman. No link to Snow yet, because I'm in the middle of redesigning her.
> 
> [Book cover](https://img3.pillowfort.social/posts/c93a87a3f5a6_Huntsman.png), [chapter cover](https://img3.pillowfort.social/posts/5c375d913e15_Snow%20White.png).

-/-

The first queen was beautiful. That was all that was ever said of her.

The king married her when she was young, won her hand over many other suitors by besting her father in a contest of wits, and she was sweet and gentle and kind and loved among the people of the kingdom, and she was beautiful, and nothing else was ever said of her.

A year of their marriage passed with no issue, and then two, and then five, and then ten: finally, in the thirteenth year of their marriage the queen brought a daughter into the world. The daughter was pale, and frail, and not expected to live past her first year, and when she survived- not just survived, but grew strong- whispers began that she was a fairy child, and the fairies would take her back in time.

The first queen died. Ah, but you already knew that, didn’t you? She couldn’t be the first queen if there were no second queen as well.

The king remarried, as widowers are wont to do, and his second queen was just as beautiful as his first, or perhaps moreso, or less so: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder has the object permanence of a toddler with a shiny ring of keys and a stack of colorful blocks.

The king died. There is not much that can be said in that regard.

The new queen now ruled in his place, and would rule until her stepdaughter grew old enough to inherit the throne and take the crown, and perhaps she can be forgiven for growing bitter about this, or perhaps she cannot. Whatever her feelings, and however justified we consider them, this doesn’t change the fact that she chose a very murdery way to address them, which brings us to where our story really, truly begins.

-/-

It had been several days since Bryory had taken the girl and run. He’d lost count, honestly. How many days, exactly, had they tramped through these woods?

Bryory was fine. He knew how to survive in the woods, and knew not to hunt within the Wood; he foraged for their food instead, and was careful not to cut away a path for them, instead finding the natural trails that grew in a wood.

But Snow…

“Bryory, I am  _ tired _ ,” she said, coming to a halt and sinking down to perch delicately on a broad tree root. “It has been  _ days _ . Where are we going? When will we stop?”

“I am very sorry, Princess.” Bryory knelt before her, taking his hand in his own in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “I wish it were not necessary, but when your stepmother the queen learns of my deception I don’t want to be anywhere that she can find us.”

Snow made a noise like a sob and hung her head. “Where can we go that she won’t find us?”

“I don’t know, Princess,” he admitted. He cupped her chin in his hands and brushed away the tears threatening to spill. “I’m sorry. I wish things were different.”

“My stepmother was going to try ridding herself of me eventually,” Snow murmured, hanging her head again. “As long as I’m around her rule has an expiration date.” She sighed, and finally stood. “We should go. It will be dark soon. We’ll need to find somewhere to shelter.”

“As you like, Princess.”

-/-

Another two days. Bryory was growing as weary as Snow; the Wood was feeling more and more like a labyrinth that he would never find his way through. How big was the Wood?

Bryory had seen a map of the world once, had seen the kingdoms that surrounded the Wood and shared its borders. The Wood on the map had not seemed that big at all, but it had been much bigger than the tiny kingdoms surrounding it. He might easily never find the other side. Might easily grow lost.

It was growing dark around them. Bryory stopped where he stood- this was as good a place to stop for the night as anywhere. He shed his cloak and lay it on the ground at the base of a tree so Snow could have a place to sleep that was at least not directly on the ground.  _ He _ didn’t mind sleeping on the ground, but Snow was…

Well, she was a princess. She did not have the constitution that Bryory did.

While Snow slept, Bryory kept watch, dozing but not quite sleeping against the tree they’d chosen as their camp. He needed to do something soon to break this cycle; Snow was too worn out to go much farther, and he did not feel entirely safe within the Wood to make a longer term camp for them to rest. Who knew what dangers waited in the Wood? Just because they’d been safe so far…

As his thoughts threatened to carry him into deeper sleep, he was jarred awake entirely by a light moving past them. He sat up straighter, looking for the source of the light, and decided immediately he must be dreaming, because what he saw was a hare: but not a hare as the ones he had hunted outside of the Wood. This hare had leaves and flowers trailing from its fur, and golden light in its ears.

It loped through the little camp, sniffing the air, sniffing the ground, sniffing Snow- Bryory’s hand went to his hatchet, but made no move to draw it. He wouldn’t unless the hare proved a threat to the girl.

The hare did not seem interested in more than just inspecting their camp, though, and after sniffing Snow a bit it moved on to Bryory.

This task done, it moved several feet away and then stood on its hind legs, staring straight at Bryory with eyes as black as the blackest night. Bryory found himself wondering if the stars he saw in the hare’s eyes were mere reflections of the sky above, or if the hare carried the night sky in its gaze.

After a long staring contest, the hare moved a few feet away and repeated the previous motion: standing on its hind legs, staring at Bryory blankly.

He pulled himself to his feet without argument. If the Wood wanted to show him something- he moved after the hare, glancing at Snow behind him as he went. Hopefully this wasn’t a will-o-the-whisp, luring him away for wicked purposes.

-/-

Bryory followed the hare for a time that seemed to stretch into infinity- his going was slow, careful, picking is way across a ground lit by some faint light left by the hare. It stayed ever ahead of him, bounding forward to the edge of his vision before standing and watching him, waiting for him to catch up before bounding ahead again. It repeated this for… how long could it possibly be? Bryory began to feel that this was to be his life now, following this hare forever, and just as he began to think of going back, that perhaps this was a trick, he saw where the hare was leading him.

The Wood was not cultivated land; while Bryory was aware that sometimes people made their homes within its borders, no kingdom had ever managed to take hold in the same way.

So it was very strange to find a castle, even a small, derelict castle, nestled in the middle of a lake, here within the boundaries of the Wood.

But the hare was sitting on the bridge that led to it. Bryory wondered what a fool he was being, and followed.

-/-

When Snow woke that morning, Bryory was gone. She had just enough time to register this, to try to quell the panic rising in her, before he returned. She let out a long, slow breath.

“My apologies, princess,” he said. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“I thought you’d abandoned me.”

“Never!” He knelt before her, a hand over his heart. “Princess, I have pledged myself your guardian, from here until you dismiss me. I will not abandon you.”

“All right…”

Rather than answer, he held out a hand to her. “Come, Princess. I’ve found us a place to shelter long-term. We’ll be safe there while we decide what we’re going to do next.”

Snow’s feet were aching. She climbed to them anyway, and followed Bryory into the Wood.

Again.

-/-

They reached the castle around noon, and Snow found herself wondering how long Bryory had been walking in the night to have found the castle and made it back to her. He must be exhausted, and as she looked closer at his movements she could see that he was. His steps were stumbling and uneasy, and his eyes hung heavy.

Her expression fell at the sight. He had been pushing so hard to take care of her these past days, and was still pushing himself still harder. As exhausted as she was, she knew he needed sleep more.

“The castle is too derelict to be used in its entirety, but we can clear out one or two rooms for our use while we-” 

He broke off, swaying in place. Snow was at his side in a moment, holding him steady while she guided his steps over to a comfortable looking spot in the overgrown courtyard.

“You’re dead on your feet,” she said. “You’ve found us a place, now rest.”

“Gotta find food,” he mumbled, but already he was nodding. Snow lay her hand on his cheek.

“You rest. Food can wait.”

“As you like, Princess,” he said, and then consciousness had left him entirely.

-/-

At first, Snow was content to merely explore the most immediately accessible parts of the castle. It was not as derelict as it had seemed at first glance: more overgrown than collapsing. Snow tried to pull away some of the vines that blocked the doors leading off of the courtyard and into the castle, but they held firm and cut into her hands, and she was forced to stop.

Without that to occupy her, she came over to sit before Bryory, watching over the slow rise and fall of his chest as he slept, just as he had watched over her throughout their long trek from their kingdom to here.

Though she didn’t know what she would do if anything tried to harm them while he slept. What good would she be?

What good was she at  _ all _ for that matter? A delicate princess, kept from any strain throughout her life- she’d always thought herself hardy, but even the first day in the Wood had tested her limits.

She was of no use to anyone, least of all Bryory, she knew. 

Well, there was something she  _ could _ do. She knew how to gather berries as well as anyone, she supposed, and she knew that they grew well on a lakeside. She could gather food for them, could have it waiting for Bryory when he woke.

She could be  _ useful. _

A quick rummage around the courtyard turned up a well, near the door she imagined must lead down to the kitchens. Like everything else, the well was overgrown, and the handle would not turn, but after enough heaving and hoisting, after rubbing her hands raw and raw again on the rope, she was able to pull the pail loose. The rope, good fortune, was brittle enough from time that she was easily able to saw through it with a knife stolen from Bryory’s belt, and now she had a pail. She could collect some berries, and when Bryory woke he would see that she could Do, and he would be able to rest instead of carrying both of their burdens himself.

The knife she attached to her own belt. She was no fool.

-/-

Snow had not spent a great deal of her life cultivating Useful skills, but she had been foraging with other children same as anyone. She knew how to pick berries, and Bryory had told her how to identify a few edible plants over the past few days. And if she stayed near the lakeshore, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost.

Unfortunately, Snow struggled to find anything edible beside the lakeshore. After stumbling along for- well, awhile; she had no idea how long, but the sun moved across the sky as she did, so it  _ must _ be awhile- after stumbling along for awhile, she stopped short at the sight of a fox standing on the bank.

She froze. Even from over here, she could see that the fox was not like any fox that should exist. Moss grew from its gray fur and white light shone from its ears, and in its eyes Snow saw the heights of the heavens above.

While she watched, the fox moved closer, then darted into the wood. She thought it had tried to escape, but it appeared again a second or so later, watching her expectantly.

So she followed it. Where the fox put its paws, mushrooms sprouted, creating a path for Snow to pick her way along, and in seeming no time at all, she found the fox had vanished, and the path it laid for her stopped under an apple tree.

Apples! How glorious! They were pinky-yellow, perfectly ripe, and the tree was so laden with them that the branches hung down to within her reach easily. Snow plucked one and bit into it immediately, nearly weeping with joy at the sweet juice that dribbled free. When she’d finished that one, she ate a second, and then began filling her pail with apples. Bryory would be  _ so _ proud of her!

Once Snow had plucked enough apples that the pail began to feel heavy, she stopped, but the pail was only halfway filled, and she wanted to take home enough that Bryory would not have to seek food at all today and perhaps tomorrow.

It seemed fortune smiled on Snow, or rather the forest: at the base of the apple tree grew several green plants that Bryory had assured her were safe to eat, and an inspection of the mushrooms left by the fox proved them to be safe as well, at least as well as Snow could tell.

Snow could have wept at the realization, and hurried to gather the mushrooms from the ground as she followed them back to the lake, always taking care to leave behind one from each cluster so that she could lead Bryory back to this place later.

-/-

Bryory was still asleep when Snow returned to the castle, so, still wishing to be Useful, she laid the apples, the greens, and the mushrooms out very carefully before taking her pail out to the lake and filling it with water.

As she was filling the pail, though, a large frog swam into the bucket.

“Oh dear,” Snow said, because she didn’t like frogs very much, and rummaged around for a stick so she could prod the frog out of the bucket without having to actually come near it to dump it out.

As soon as she laid hands on a stick, though, the frog spoke to her.

“You don’t want to go drinking water from this part of the lake,” he said, and he said it so politely that Snow briefly forgot that she didn’t really like frogs very much.

“Why not?”

“The water here is partially trapped, and is very still and gentle. My people bear our young in this part of the lake, as do many bugs. If you take the water from here, you could end up drinking our young without realizing.”

“Oh! I didn’t know.”

Snow didn’t want to go drinking anyone’s young, so she carefully tipped the bucket back into the pool, once the frog got out of it of course. He was very polite, but she still didn’t want to go touching him.

“If you follow me, I’ll show you where to gather water from.” 

And with that the frog hopped away, across the bridge and into the forest. Without a thought Snow grabbed up her pail and hurried after him.

-/-

In the castle, Bryory woke to find himself alone. At first he thought perhaps Snow had gone to explore the castle, but when he called for her and got no answer, panic rose inside of him. Had she been taken? Had harm fallen to her while he slept, unable to protect her?

And then he saw the food she had lain out, and stopped short.

Had she… gone to forage for food while he slept?

The panic inside of him stilled, but not by much, because she was still on her own in the Enchanted Wood, far away from his ability to protect her. So he took up his axe and left the castle-

-and as he passed through the door he saw Snow returning, carrying a pail of water that she was clearly struggling to hold, a frog perched on her shoulder.

Reader, he nearly wept.

And then he hurried to her side and retrieved the pail before she could drop it.

“Bryory!” she exclaimed when she saw him. “Did you sleep well? Are you feeling more rested? I brought us some food, and I found a spring of very clear water- well, Sir Frog showed me where it was, I didn’t really  _ find _ it, but I brought the water back on my own, and I can show you where it is-”

She looked so proud of herself! Bryory gave her a weak smile.

“Thank you,” he said. “You did very well.”

The praise lit her like a beacon, and he rested his free hand around her shoulder to return to the castle.

“I’m going to be Useful,” she said determinedly. “I am going to learn to work with my hands, and to carry water and gather food and guide my own feet through the Wood, so I won’t be a burden on you any longer.”

“A burden? Oh, princess, it is no burden to care for you.”

She just hummed quietly and leaned into his side.

“As you like, Bryory.”

-/-


	2. Little Red Riding Hood, or, The Big Bad Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bryory and Snow get to work making the castle livable, and then Bryory takes a trip into the village to learn about their new neighborhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chapter cover](https://img3.pillowfort.social/posts/8cefb49d1d4f_Little%20Red%20Riding%20Hood.png)
> 
> Fun fact! I didn't know anything about that damn frog before he swam into Snow's bucket and I didn't decide what his deal was, I just suddenly knew. He's going to be fun to play with, he's not part of my plans but I can't get rid of him now.
> 
> [Snow](https://grifalinas.tumblr.com/post/627820839723778048/i-redesigned-snow-i-like-her-design-much-better)   
>  [Red](https://grifalinas.tumblr.com/post/626667628528910336/last-one-for-the-night-making-an-oc-based-on)

-/-

For a few days, Bryory and Snow kept to the castle. Bryory took his axe to the vines blocking the doors leading off of the courtyard, revealing rooms that were themselves overgrown, more vines crawling in through the broken window shutters and covering the entirety of each room in greenery. Getting deeper into the castle at all was impossible with the extent of the vines blocking all passage entirely.

Since there was so much overgrowth in the castle it was folly to try clearing everything, at least right away, so on the first day Bryory selected one of the smaller rooms and took his axe to the the vines covering it. Then he and Snow got to work dragging them from the room and piling them in the courtyard, where Bryory was sure they could make use of them.

On the second day they brought in buckets and buckets of water from the lake- from the deeper part of the lake, to avoid harming any of the young in the nursery pond- and got to work scrubbing away the grime of what seemed like a century of neglect.

This is where fortune once more smiled upon them- while much of the furniture and sundries in the castle had long since decayed or rotted away, there were a few brooms and brushes that were still largely in useable condition- it was short work for Bryory to cut new poles for the brooms, and they scrubbed the room clean until there was no grime left at all.

At the end of the second day, the pair sat collapsed against each other in the setting sun in the courtyard. Snow was inspecting the blisters forming on her hands- which had till this point not known a day’s work in her life- while their friend Sir Frog told them about the area they had chosen to make their home.

“This estate didn’t used to be part of the Wood,” he was explaining. “It used to be the country home of some royal or other. Then a curse fell on it and it was abandoned, and the Wood just kind of swallowed it up.”

“I wasn’t aware the Wood was capable of this,” Bryory said. “Is there a cause for concern for the rest of the kingdoms?”

“Oh, no, the Wood only expands around magic. The rest of the kingdoms will be fine as long as they don’t build on the edge of the Wood and then get cursed.”

Bryory thought of this, and considered the rumors that his queen was a witch, and grimaced. “That does not fill me with reassurance. All the same, I don’t suppose there’s anything we can do about it. I am more interested in the implication that were are near to the borders of the Wood.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s not far at all- you can actually find what’s left of the road not far from here, it’ll take you right there. There’s a village just beyond the border, and some people even live in the Wood itself.”

“And what of yourself, Sir Frog?” Snow asked curiously. “Are you a man enchanted to be a frog, or a frog enchanted to speak as a man?”

“The first one, probably,” he said. “I was a man once, until a witch turned me into-” Here he sat back on his hind legs and gestured at himself with his webbed hands. “-well, this.”

“What in the world for?” Bryory asked.

“Oh, I deserved it.” He dropped back to his more natural crouch. “I was very rude to her, so she told me that if I was going to act like a toad, I might as well look the part.”

“Do you need help to break your curse?” Snow asked, and batted her eyes in jest. “Do you need to be kissed by a beautiful maiden?”

And then fell into giggles at the very idea. Sir Frog hummed.

“Possibly that would help, though if I’m being honest I find I much prefer this life. There’s plenty of food in the wood for a frog like me, and I find fulfillment in guarding the nursery pool. The young frogs can grow safely and peacefully, as can the bugs that we eat. It’s not a bad life.”

“Did you leave behind no one in your life that you would like to return to?” Bryory asked.

“Did you?” the frog shot back, turning away grumpily. “I left behind no one who wouldn’t be better off without me.”

And from that, he would say no more, bounding grumpily away and leaving them to their own affairs. Bryory leaned back to gaze up at the darkening sky.

“I think tomorrow I shall make my way into town,” he said. “I’d like to learn the lay of the land, and which kingdom we are nearest. I would also like to hunt meat for our table, and I do not wish to hunt in the Wood. Who can say how many more there are like our friend Sir Frog?”

Snow picked at a blister on her hand. The novelty of work had worn off quickly, and she hoped that she would not be expected to do more of it tomorrow.

“I’d like you to stay here,” Bryory said. “I don’t know what enchantments your stepmother our queen would use to find us, if she seeks us, but I believe the Wood may shield us. You’ll be safe from the Wood in the castle, and you’ll be safe from your stepmother in the Wood.”

He was also hesitant to bring her among people- no one who looked on her delicate state would fail to guess at her lineage, and if word reached this kingdom that there was a princess missing, it would take little effort to guess that it might be Snow. He didn’t mention this, though.

And that was assuming they hadn’t looped around and remained near their own kingdom.

-/-

The next morning, as soon as the pair had finished their meal, Bryory shouldered his bow and hoisted his axe and headed out into the forest, Sir Frog leading him to the remains of the road that would lead out of the Wood and into the village. His knife he left with Snow, in case she should need it, though he hoped she wouldn’t.

Sir Frog only took him as far as the road, assuring him it would be easy to find the village from here before loping back off in the direction of the castle. So Bryory set off on his own, following the road as it became more than really just an overgrown footpath before widening into a true road.

He knew the moment he left the Wood’s borders. He had come to not notice the weight of the Wood’s enchantments while he was within the boundaries, but as soon as he was free of it, he had to wonder how it had not been a constant thought.

One his way into town, he passed by a girl- about Snow’s age, or so he guessed- in a red cloak, carrying a basket over her hand. As they appeared to be walking in the same direction, he paused and bowed politely.

“Good morning, little mistress,” he said. “A fine morning.”

“Good morning, huntsman,” she returned, falling into step beside him. “I’ve not seen your face around before. I’m called Red. Because-” She gestured vaguely at her cloak, and the red jacket she wore under it.

Bryory chuckled. “Appropriate. I answer to Bryory. I-” He hesitated. He needed to fudge the truth about his circumstances, but only a little- he had no desire to lie. “I’ve taken up a stead near here, with my daughter. She’s about your age, actually!”

“Ohhh, I’d love to meet her! A new companion nearer to home would be so exciting!” She laughed and twirled once in delight, and then halted as they’d reached a fork in the road. “This is where we part, good sir,” she said, bowing politely in turn. “I live not far from where our paths crossed- I hope you’ll bring your daughter to meet me.”

Bryory assured her he would, and carried on toward the village while the girl disappeared into the forest, singing merrily to herself until even her song had faded behind him.

-/-

The village was much like any other small village might be, though the fashion of the people he met there was different enough to the fashion of his own home kingdom that he was reassured that he had come far enough away. As Bryory had no money or means of trade, and was really only after information, he gravitated toward the place where gossip gathered: the smithy, its doors hanging wide open to the village. A crowd gathered around, some patrons awaiting work, others merely gathering to spread and hear gossip.

Bryory’s presence was remarked on as soon as he joined the crowd. The village was small, small enough that a stranger- especially, though this was not Bryory’s thought, a handsome one- was immediately noticed. They greeted and welcomed him warmly, and he fed them the same deception he’d told Red that morning.

“My daughter and I come from far away, and we’ve taken a stead in the area. We live near the border of the Wood, out northwest of the village.”

True enough.

“You don’t live far from me then,” said one man, a rail-thin man with enough likeness to Red that Bryory knew they must be related. He clasped Bryory’s forearm warmly. “I am called Quin, my friend.”

“I think I met some of your kin this morning,” Bryory said, once they’d dropped the clasp. “A young girl called Red. She seemed very excited to have a new companion so near to home.”

“My niece.” Quin grinned. “On her way to Granny’s, no doubt. Have you been to pay your respects yet?”

“Your witch?” Bryory guessed, and at Quin’s affirmative hum, said, “I haven’t had the chance to ask around yet.”

“I can take you to her, if you like. She likes to be introduced properly. It amuses her.”

That sounded about right, and Bryory didn’t like the idea of being on the bad side of the village’s witch- a proper witch, not a witch-queen or a wicked witch, a hedge-witch who guarded the village and kept her steading against evils. He agreed, and, as Quin still had more errands to do, they arranged to meet again before Quin left for home.

Meantime, Bryory remained at the smithy, where interest in him waxed and waned- the people wanted to know more about him, but they also had plenty of other topics to gossip about as well.

-/-

“Have you a wife?” one woman asked as the hour grew late, and Bryory shook his head. “The mother of your daughter?”

“My daughter’s mother is passed from this world many years now,” he said. True. “It is just the two of us.”

“Ah, well, there’s plenty other widowed in this village,” an older man said sagely. “If you look, you’ll easily find someone new.”

“If you look to men for love,” said the first woman, who could not have missed Bryory’s appreciative glances at the smith, “You might consider looking close to home.”

And her eyes danced with a merry secret, but before Bryory could respond a touch to his arm told him Quin had returned.

“All done gossiping with our new neighbor?” he asked the others gathered. The woman tittered, and Quin rolled his eyes and took Bryory’s arm, tugging him away from the crowd. “All right, all right, put it away. I am still a married man, for all that the rest of you lack faith.”

He dropped his hand as soon as they left the crowd, but Bryory waited till they were out of earshot to ask. Quin snorted.

“My husband vanished a year ago. The rest of the village believes me abandoned, and Lola- the woman you spoke to- keeps trying to matchmake me.”

_ Still a married man, _ he’d said. Bryory gave him a weak smile. “You don’t agree with them?”

“He must be kept from me somehow. Even if he lost his love for me, and I do not believe he has, he loves my sister and her daughter to devotion. He would not abandon them, even if I thought he would abandon me. Wherever he is, he is not there by his own will.”

“And Lola believes otherwise.”

He nodded, and then sighed. “She means well. But she is still a meddling nuisance.”

There was no comfort Bryory could offer, so he changed the subject instead, asking Quin more questions about the area, this time about the neighborhood they lived in, and about himself and his family. Quin, it transpired, was a teacher; he and his sister ran a schoolhouse for those children in their neighborhood who lived too far away to walk to the village school every day, joined by his husband before his disappearance.

“You should send your girl our way,” he said. “We trade in work to cover tuition, but as you’re a huntsman we’d also welcome meat for our table. Red is the only child remotely her age group, so she’d welcome another classmate her own age. Next term starts come the winter. Something to think about.”

Bryory liked the sound of a school, and he liked the sound of Snow making friends, but the thought of her delicate constitution and her unworked hand gave him pause. It was only a few months till winter; would that be enough for work to mar the features of a princess?

Would it ever be safe to let her join other children?

He said none of this to Quin, leaving him to think he was merely mulling the idea over, and instead came to a halt as they reached the fork in the road.

“This one will take you to Granny’s,” he said, gesturing down the right hand path. He pointed to the left. “And this one will take you past my place and the schoolhouse.”

“I live down that one as well. Past yours, I think, as I overtook Red this morning when we met.”

At that, Quin gave him a sharp look. “You live in the Wood?” When Bryory looked taken aback, he added, “My stead is on the edge of the Wood. If you live past me, then you live in the Wood.”

Bryory hesitated once more, unsure of how much to tell, and finally said, “There’s a castle- we found it after days of travel on foot. We needed shelter to rest, and we need the protection the Wood affords.”

“May the gods smile on you, then. There’s a witch who lives nearby in the Wood, the nasty sort.” His face fell. “I worry my Julian may have fallen afoul of her. If he has, I may never see him again.”

Again, there was nothing for Bryory to say, so he fell silent, mulling over this new information as they made the walk to Granny’s house.

-/-

It was not such a long way to Granny’s, and Bryory got the impression as they walked that this road led only to her: an inkling strengthened when they came in view of the tiny cottage and the path led right up to her door.

Bryory would have liked to take a moment to steel himself before meeting a witch, but before he could think to say so a scream ripped through the air and his feet carried him away without his say-so. He wrenched open the door to the cottage and flung himself inside, ax in hand as he sought the source of the screams and found Red trying to scramble to the top of the high-topped wardrobe in the room.

Before he could register that, though, his gaze was drawn to what had caused her fear: a wolf, though it was as like a wolf as a wolf is like a dog. It was twice the size of a normal wolf, coat bristling black as soot and streaked with silver, and golden eyes that almost glowed from within.

Shouting to get the wolf’s attention, Bryory swung his axe, trying to drive it back, away, to draw it from the girl, at least. Quin had burst into the cottage not far behind him, but he seemed smart enough not to draw attention to himself either. In his periphery, Bryory could see him edging toward the wardrobe, reaching in Red’s direction to pull her down as soon as he could.

The wolf seemed confused by all the sudden commotion, backing away but still growling, looking from one human to another, enormous claws digging into the dirt floor of the cottage.

“Wait,” the girl said suddenly. “I think…” Behind him, Bryory heard rather than saw her swing herself carefully down from the wardrobe. And then without warning she was at his back, peering around him. “I know him.”

“Red- Red, c’mon, come to me- just back away-”

“But I know him- it’s Uncle Julian, can’t you see?”

“I-” Bryory heard a pained noise from his new friend. “Even if it is, he’s not in his right mind- Red,  _ please, _ you’ll be hurt-”

“No. He would never hurt me.”

And then she was not behind him anymore, had pushed around him and approached the wolf- Bryory reached for her, ready to pull her away as soon as the wolf struck, but it seemed more confused than anything as she came nearer- its hackles raised, but its ears lay flat, and as she reached it, it whimpered.

“I  _ know _ you would never hurt me, Uncle Julian,” she repeated, and cupped the wolf’s muzzle in her hands, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the wolf’s.

The world-

_ -shifted. _

Bryory felt like he was being turned sideways or maybe upside down- like his stomach was in three different places at once and would quite like to empty itself of its contents; his eyes burned, his blood froze-

-and then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped, and where the wolf had stood knelt a man, an extremely beautiful, extremely naked man.

“I knew you couldn’t hurt me,” Red chirped, and then was knocked aside when Quin flung himself into the man’s arms, nearly knocking him to the floor with the sheer force of his joy.

“You bastard,” he said, kissing his husband soundly and again, and again, and again. “My love, my love, what happened? Why were you a wolf, who did this to you, why-” A beat, as he took stock of the situation. “...why are you naked?”

-/-

Their first priority was covering Julian’s privacy; as an elderly woman who lived alone in the forest was not likely to have clothes on hand to suit a very large man, a blanket was retrieved from the wardrobe instead.

“Red, where is Granny?” Quin asked, fussing a little at the blanket Julian was wrapping around himself.

“The brewer’s boy came to say that the baby was coming, so she went to deliver it. I was reading one of her books, so she let me stay. I had the door open because it’s such a hot day, and that’s how the wolf came inside.”

“I don’t know why,” Julian said, the first words spoken since he’d been restored. His voice was hoarse from un-use. “I- have no memory of my time as a wolf. I don’t know what drew me inside.”

“Obviously a part of you thought Granny would be able to help,” Red said.

“But  _ why _ were you a wolf in the first place?” Quin demanded. “What happened? I thought-” He leaned forward and buried his face in Julian’s shoulder, and mumbled, “I thought you’d abandoned me.”

“Never!” Julian exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his husband and holding him tight. “I don’t- quite know. I was out… hunting? I came to a lake- it was such a hot day…” His brow furrowed as he tried to remember. “I… I stopped the swim- it was so hot- but when I left the water my clothes were gone and a- a woman?” His dug one hand into his temple, trying to force his memory, and finally shook his head. “I think I upset her, and she laid a curse on me… after that, everything is a haze. I just- I remember… hunger.” His eyes shut and he rubbed tiredly at them. “But what broke my enchantment?”

“True love,” Bryory said. “A part of you, however small, was aware of your niece, and refused to let the wolf hurt her. Your love was stronger than the curse.”

“Granny says love can be very powerful when wielded correctly,” Red agreed. “And you!” She laughed and flung herself at Bryory, hugging him tight. “You came to save me! Even though it was scary, and you could be hurt, and you still came to me. That’s a form of love too, you know.”

“I couldn’t have done anything else, little mistress,” Bryory said. “You were in danger. What else was I to do?”

“Anything at all,” Red said firmly. “And I won’t ever forget this.”

-/-

It was drawing on dusk when Bryory eventually returned to the castle. Snow rushed out to meet him as he approached, flinging her arms around him.

“Snow?” he said, worried that something may have happened, but she just shook her head.

“I was just worried you weren’t coming back,” she said.

“Of course I was coming back,” Bryory said, but even as he said it his mind drew to Julian, kept from his family by a curse that took even his mind from him. He knelt in front of Snow and took her hands in his. “Snow, I swear to you- if I ever do not return to you, it will not be by my own will. I will not abandon you. I will  _ never _ abandon you.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, and then, just as quietly, “Will you stay at the castle tomorrow?”

Bryory had meant to hunt tomorrow, as he had not gotten to today, but the worried tone of her voice gave him pause. They could live on apples and greens for another day, he supposed, and nodded.

“I’ll stay tomorrow. Perhaps we can clear another room, and have two for our use.”

He rose to his feet and the pair headed back to the castle together. Snow groaned.

“I am  _ already _ tired of doing work, Bryory.”

“Sorry, Princess. It has to be done anyway.”

-/-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My brain: If you give Red gay uncles you're just going to make another Ironqrow and you know it  
> Me: I think we both know I'm going to do it anyway

**Author's Note:**

> Like this? Want to see more? Hit me up on Tumblr @grifalinas! If you want to see behind the scenes discussion of this story as I build it, including fifty-seven straight entries of patch notes because I couldn't settle on a timeline, the tag follow is [Fairy Tales Interrupted](https://grifalinas.tumblr.com/tagged/fairy-tales-interrupted).


End file.
